Swings
Swings are performers who do not have one specific role in the show, instead they understudy the ensemble roles. In general theatre terms, swings cover ensemble roles while the ensemble understudy principal roles, leading to a "domino effect" as three or four people move roles to cover one principal absence. However in the case of Cats, certainly in productions with a larger number of swings, the swings often cover principal roles as well as ensemble. Cats Swings Cats has run between having no swings, but named ensemble characters who can be cut from the show should the performer need to understudy a more prominent role, to running with 4-5 swings, to having more swings backstage than performers onstage - the Hamburg production at one point listed 27 swings to 22 characters onstage. Admetus, Bill Bailey, Carbucketty, Electra, Etcetera, Exotica, George, Grumbuskin, Jemima, Jonathan, Murad, Noilly Prat, Olivia, Quaxo and Victor have all been used as names for swings. Cats Chorus, Booth Singers Some productions of Cats refer to the swings as "Cats Chorus", in other productions the "Cats Chorus" are specifically Booth Singers, who may or may not also perform onstage. Booth singers are backstage, and sing along with the cast onstage to augment the vocals. In modern productions it is common for some, or all of the swings to sing booth when not performing onstage. In older productions the Chorus/booth singers typically covered the vocal heavy roles: Grizabella, Jennyanydots, Jellylorum; Old Deuteronomy, Gus, Munkustrap, Tugger. The original London production used "Cats Chorus" to cover the as-yet un-named characters who developed into the Kitten characters, however in most productions every character onstage is a named role. Walking Cover The term "Walking Cover" refers to a specific swing track, in which an actor covers the roles of Old Deuteronomy and Gus / Bustopher Jones. These roles are not dance intensive, and the Walking Cover does not generally also cover the dancing roles. Standby Standby covers are similar to Walking Covers, but cover more dance-intensive roles. Unlike Swings, Standbys may only cover a couple of roles - generally the more vocally demanding roles, leaving Swings to cover the featured dancing roles. The term "Standby" is used in the Broadway production in particular instead of "Swing". Ensemble Some productions simply label the performers without named roles as "Ensemble". In most shows, this would indicate the chorus, but in Cats as every character usually has a name, no matter how small the role, "Ensemble" refers to Swings. Dance Captain In most productions, one or more of the swings will also be the dance captain. The dance captain is responsible for overseeing and maintaining the standards of all the choreography in the show. They are required to know the movement and choreography (called a "track") for every single character in the show because they are responsible for teaching the tracks to new cast members and giving notes when current performers aren't adhering to the original steps. They also work closely with the stage managers to coordinate rehearsals. Swing Characters Some productions of Cats give the swings have their own distinctive costumes and character names. The practical application for this is that one performer may cover 4-5 small roles, and rather than have 5 separate costumes he can wear the swing costume for all the roles. This is also particularly useful when a female swing has to cover a male character, or vice versa. In Australian based productions, the swings appear onstage in certain scenes, and interact with the audience. In UK based productions they only appear onstage while covering a named role, except for on special occasions. The UK Swings often appear in the official photocall as a means of giving the performers their credit due, however these images do not represent the performance. Recent UK productions use the Electra and George (Palladium Pouncival) costumes for swings, and additional swings mix and match elements of extra costumes for photoshoot costumes. The Oslo 1985 Production named their swing characters "Kvesesta", "Potefar", and "Godnattakatt", as well as crediting a "Young Grizabella/Swing". London Swings In the early years of the Original London production, there was an ensemble of un-named kitten characters, some of whom grew into named roles and others became swing costumes. Characters were cast strictly to height, the adults being notably taller than the kittens. This led to issues of costume fitting when a short swing would need to cover a tall character or vice versa. Each of the six swings had a distinctive costume, but if they have official names, they are unknown. For ease of reference they have been given nicknames by fans. The Swings usually featured in the photocall for the brochure in the big group shots until the late 1990s. However Summer Strallen, a swing wearing NBQ, featured in the 2001 photos. "NBQ" This tall girl looks somewhat like a pale Cassandra, she is often called "Greycat" or "Nameless Brown Queen - NBQ" depending on the colouring of her costume which varied from silver to tan. She is often used when the tall swing needs to play a kitten, such as Etcetera or Jemima. Kitten Design 3 NBQ.jpg|"Kitten" design, swing "NBQ" / "Greycat" Finale L9611 crop 3.jpg|Golden NBQ above/right of Rumpleteaser UK8906 41 NBQ.jpg|Greycat / NBQ UK Tour 1989 Swing NBQ Summer.jpg|Summer Strallen as NBQ, 2001 Swing NBQ L9712.png|London, 1997 Etc Swings NBQ AJ L9712.png|NBQ, Etcetera, AJ. London 1997 "AJ" This Swing looks similar to Jemima but with much less colour and more white on her body, sometimes called "Almost Jemima - AJ". She has been worn on occasions such as a female swing playing Carbucketty. Kitten Design AJ.jpg|"Kitten" design, Swing "AJ" L9011 swing Beth Robson.jpg|Beth Robson as AJ, London 1990 Etc Swings NBQ AJ L9712.png|NBQ, Etcetera, AJ. London 1997 Swing AJ L9712.png|London, 1997 "Tabbygirl" The last female swing looks rather like Victor, a dark brown Tabby, sometimes known as "Tabbygirl". She is often worn by the swing who covers more vocal heavy / adult roles, so appears more mature than a kitten. UK8906 42 Tabbygirl.jpg|Tabbygirl UK Tour 1989 L9411 Swings Etc.jpg|AJ, Tabbygirl, Etcetera, London 1994 Swing Tabbygirl l9011_40.jpg|London 1990 Swing Tabbygirl l8806_37.jpg|London, 1988 Swing Tabbygirl l9211_40.jpg|London 1992 Swings l9305_35.jpg|AJ, Tabbygirl, NBQ, London 1993 The three male swings are harder to identify, as their unitard markings varied enormously and sometimes looked very like the ensemble boys. Their wig designs however were more consistent, but not necessarily paired with the same costume design. "Patches" The first of the boys has very defined patches in his makeup, and his unitard often resembles Admetus; however he's kitten height where Admetus is usually one of the tallest males. Makeup Swing Boy.jpg|Patches Makeup chart Kitten Design 2.jpg|"Kitten" design used for swing - "Patches" L8709 10 Swing.jpg|Tantomile and Patches, London 1987 L9608 swing5.jpg|Patches, London 1996 Swing Patches L9712.png|London, 1997 Swings Patches Caramel L9712.png|Patches, Caramel, London 1997 "Calico" The second swing boy sometimes resembles a male Etcetera, a calico male (which in real cats is a genetic anomaly, Calico cats are 99.9% female), with orange and grey stripes, and a strong orange and a black patch in his bangs. L9608 swing4.jpg|Calico, London 1996 L8806 39 Swing.jpg|Calico, London 1988 L9011 33 Swing.jpg|Calico, London 1990 L9211 34 Swing.jpg|Calico, London 1992 "Caramel" The last male swing is a tall boy often in rich brown and caramel colours, and can be mistaken for Victor. L9608 swing3.jpg|Caramel, London 1996 L9211 39 Swing.jpg|Caramel, London 1992 Swing Caramel Walking Cover l9206.png|Caramel, Walking Cover, London 1992 Swings Patches Caramel L9712.png|Patches, Caramel, London 1997 Walking Cover In addition to the Swings in London, the Walking Cover often appears in cast photos. However he does not need his own costume - the two roles he covers appear in their "Song" costumes, Old Deuteronomy and Gus. The walking cover can wear the "Basic Deuteronomy" costume worn by Old Deut for the opening number, or Asparagus' ensemble costume without causing any visible doubling up of characters. Swing Caramel Walking Cover l9206.png|Caramel, Walking Cover, London 1992 Australian Swings The Australian production, and subsequent productions modelled on it, names all the swings, which can cause confusion when comparing to other productions. The swings, usually listed as "CATS Chorus" (not to be confused with the term referring to booth singers), each has their own costume, name, and personality, and function as on-stage ensemble, filling in large group dances and singing ensemble, unless the actor is required to cover another role, or is off themselves, in which case the chorus character will be cut for that performance. Bill Bailey China Bill Swing 02.jpg|Bill Bailey, China 2012 Carbucketty "A playful cat, often jumping around." Carbucketty Matthew Jackson Aus 1989 01.png|Australia, 1989 Carbucketty World Tour 2001 01.jpg|Carbucketty, World Tour, 2001 China Carbucketty04.jpg|Carbucketty, China 2012 China Carby.jpg|Carbucketty, China 2012 Electra "An orange-and-black kitten who is a good friend of Etcetera and also likes Rum Tum Tugger." Electra Belinda Allchin Aus Circus Opening Night.jpg|Australia, 1999 Electra Mischana Dellora Cornish Aus 2009 01.jpg|Mischana Dellora-Cornish as Electra, Australia 2009 Electra Mischana Dellora Cornish Aus 2010 02.jpg|Electra, Australia, 2010 China Electra.jpg|Electra, China 2012 Electra Kathryn Sgroi Asia 2014 01.jpg|Asian Tour, 2014 Electra Bree Langridge Aus 2016 01.jpg|Australia, 2016 Etcetera "A happy, energetic kitten, very infatuated with Rum Tum Tugger." Etcetera Danielle Goullet Aus 1989 01.png|Australia, 1989 Korea 2008 Etcetera01.jpg|South Korea, 2008 China Etcetera 02.jpg|Etcetera, China 2012 China Etcetera.jpg|Etcetera, China 2012 George "Young male cat, lively and mischievous." George Justin McNamara Aus 1989 01.png|Australia, 1989 George Justin McNamara Aus 1989 02.png|Australia, 1989 Jellicle Ball Group Aus 2009 01.jpg|Australasian Tour, 2009, George front China George 03.jpg|George, China 2012 China George.jpg|George, China 2012 George Marina Bay Sands Singapore 2015.jpg|George, Australia Tour Singapore 2015 Grumbuskin China Grumbuskin 1.jpg|Grumbuskin, China 2012 China Grumbuskin 2.jpg|Grumbuskin, China 2012 Jemima "A young female cat who is full of curiosity of the outside world." China Jemima Swing 1.jpg|Jemima, China 2012. Very similar design but not a duplicate of Sillabub in the same production. Jonathan Jonathan Shanghai 2003.jpg|Jonathan, World Tour 2003. Same design as used for Swing-George. Murad "A small male cat that often appears in high places." China Murad Swing.jpg|Murad, China 2012 Noilly Prat "A charming young female cat." China Noilly Pratt.jpg|Noilly Prat, China 2012 China Noilly 02.jpg|Noilly Prat, China 2012 Olivia "A young female cat." Olivia Aus2010 1.jpg|Erin James as Olivia, Australia 2010 China Olivia.jpg|Olivia, China 2012 Quaxo "A young male cat." Munkus Ensemble 2 Shanghai 2003.jpg|Munkustrap, Pouncival (left), Quaxo (right) and Electra, World Tour 2003 Quaxo Ranjeet Starr Aus 2008 01.jpg|Quaxo, Australasian Tour China Quaxo 03.jpg|Quaxo, China 2012 China Quaxo.jpg|Quaxo, China 2012 Victor Kitten Pile 1 World Tour 2001 01.jpg|From Top: Victor, Quaxo, Jemima, Victoria, Sillabub, Electra, World Tour, 2001 China 2012 Victor01.jpg|China, 2012 Category:Chorus Cat Category:Characters